Kanto Chronicles
by pennedbyemily
Summary: Best friends Luce (Leaf), Gary (Oak), and Ash (Red) had all shared the same dream as a kid: to become a pokemon trainer. But now that five years have passed, things have gone wrong, and their trio is split, will they still truly achieve that dream while apart, or does fate have other things planned for them? (game-based with touches of anime and a/u thrown in, no set ships yet)


**A/N****: **Hello new fandom! Though... not so new? I don't know, I've literally been into pokemon for 11 years. But I've never been into the fandom aspect of it prior to this, so salutations! I'm going to start off by saying that I've basically created this idea in my head based off of basic knowledge of the game and anime, but it's fairly A/U and some aspects may be off, but it stays true to the pokemon universe, and may feature characters that we all know and love as it progresses. It will stay fairly third-person, but also "Luce" (who is based off of Leaf in the games, even going so far as to have taken the name "Lucie" from the options suggested by Bulbapedia's list)-centric, for she is the main protagonist of this fanfiction. She is not at all associated with Green from Pokemon Adventures, in fact, the manga can be pretty much 100% disregarded here because, like I said, this idea is 80% from the good ol' noggin of mine and will be fairly A/U.

* * *

_six years ago_

* * *

"Bulbasaur, I choose you! - Um, wait, can I have the Squirtle instead?" Ash asked, looking at the stuffed Bulbasaur he had just tossed in the make-shift "battle arena" they had drawn in the dirt in his front yard with a kind of torn expression. Luce chuckled from her spot on the grass, knowing that Ash was never good at deciding what pokemon he wanted to use when they played battles like this, never mind when they actually discussed which kind they wanted when they got their trainers' licenses. Ash wanted all three of them, he wanted all of the pokemon.

"_I_ chose Squirtle, dumby, my grandpa wouldn't let you change your mind. Especially since I get mine first - I am his favorite grandson after all..." Gary Oak said, a-matter-of-factly, sending his "Squirtle" into battle silently, tossing the plushie on the ground carelessly, having it land on it's stomach. Pulling a face, he adjusted it to a standing position quickly, and signalled at Luce to flip the coin that usually determined which person got to go first - something she had come up with simply because it kept their games fair and prevented inevitable arguments that she would always be pulled into by her two friends.

"His only grandson" Ash said, rolling his eyes, causing Luce to giggle under her breath as she flipped the coin.

"Call it!"

"Heads" - "Heads"

The two boys glared at one another, and Luce let out a sigh; "How about different ones this time?" she suggested, as snarkily as a seven year old could be. Flipping the coin again, the boys chose:

"Tails!" - "Tails... Oh, forget this! It's not like you have a chance to beat me anyway, Ash!"

"I don't know about that!" Mr. Oak said, suddenly, taking the three children by surprise. Ash grinned at Gary triumphantly, causing the other boy to cross his arms. "Gee thanks, Pops" Gary mumbled, and Mr. Oak chuckled and ruffled his hair. "You're too cocky about your supposed skills and you're fighting with dolls, kiddo. Give it some time" he replied, and picked up a chest off of the grass, catching Luce's attention.

"Where are you going?" she asked almost excitedly, knowing that he was one of the people who graded the trainer qualification exams along with his wife and her father, and that they were supposed to be called in any day think, just next year they could take the test and finally become _real_ trainers.

"We were called in today, your mother sent me to tell you to come say goodbye to your father" he replied, grinning, "and I wanted to tell Gary here he'd be staying with his Gramps for a while."

* * *

_today_

* * *

_"And for the first time in five years, any resident of Pallet Town who passed the exam will be eligible to pick up their pokemon licenses and starter pokemon from Professor Oak..."_ The screen above her head informed everyone who had gathered in front of Prof. Oak's laboratories to either receive their license, a starter pokemon, or see off their family/friends. Today, the pokemon Professor would be giving nine pokemon as opposed to the usual three - it had been a way to attempt to make up for the loss of years between the last time he had distributed pokemon to the residents here, but it barely made up for the 15 pokemon he would have given to beginner trainers over the years if _It_ hadn't happened. Shaking her head, Luce reminded herself that today was not a day to think about that. Today was the day she would start her journey, her and Gary and Ash, like they always wanted to all those years ago. Today was a happy day.

The doors to the lab opened, and the chatter suddenly stopped from the crowd, the only ones speaking were those small whispers between the trainers that would officially become trainers today, excitement and nerves all around, kids from ages 10-15 finally being allowed to start their journeys - a few kids away from her, Luce caught Ash's eye, and he smiled at her a bit, but the awkwardness hung between them when they remembered they had vowed to do this together, travel together, him, her, and Gary... something that wouldn't happen now, that could never happen now with all these years between then and now that they hadn't been close anymore. Suddenly, she felt a shove from someone behind her, then another from another kid behind her, and another from behind. Flailing, she reached to grab the person behind her in hopes of not falling, only leading to this person to go down with her. "Watch where you're going! " a male voice said, and she half groaned in pain, half growled at his audacity considering (who she assumed to be a) he was the reason she had stumbled in the first place. Pushing whoever this was off of her, she rolled over and opened her eyes, grabbing her now-bruising side and saw who her "shover" had been.

"You never watch where _you're_ going, Gary" she said, exasperated, struggling to get up as she watched him try to retrieve a few things that he had dropped. Sighing, she kneeled to grab a few things. Handing a water bottle, a few potions, and an antidote to him, she smiled a bit. He took them wordlessly, putting them in his bag as he walked toward the door to the room the starters would be - the process had been changed a bit with the amount of pokemon that were being given out today. She followed him, her mouth forming a line. She had given it a shot, a shot he didn't even deserve at this point. What was the use? For a moment she wondered where Ash had gone, looking around. All she could see were the tops of a few ten-year-olds' heads as they fought to get through the door first. Maybe there should have been some of line system or something established at the door; This was some kind of chaos. It only gave her incentive to hurry, though, and she caught up with Gary right before they went into the room. She knew what his choice was, though she was still unsure about her's - oh, well, Bulbasaur was taken anyway - she would choose Charmander, then, leaving Gary with the Squirtle - rather, the Blastoise he had always wanted to evolve it into. Smiling, she said "Charmander, I choose you!" excitedly, releasing it from the pokeball and receiving it's cry in response. Kneeling down to be more at it's level. "Hey there, Charmander" she said, rubbing it's head, unsure of what else to do while she was so overwhelmed at the thought of having a pokemon. "You're going to come with me on my pokemon journey, and we're going to be great friends, okay?" she told him, and Gary scoffed. Looking up, she glared at him. "What?" He should just mind his own business if he was going to act like she wasn't relevant to him.

"You don't need to tell it and ask if it's okay, it's a pokemon and you're it's master" he said, and the Charmander turned to glare at him before using an attack that Luce decided must be ember, setting the leg of Gary's pants into a small flame. In a panic, he called out "Squirtle!" as he struggled to stomp out the fire with his other foot, looking like he was doing a sort of dance, causing Charmander to laugh, and Luce a bit, too, but only once he'd had Squirtle use bubble to put it out. "What are you laughing at?" he asked Charmander and Luce, who both suppressed their laughs for the sake of being nice. "You think it's funny you got a little pyromaniac Charmander?" he asked, rubbing his ankle as if he had been burned slightly. "Good luck beating anyone while it's setting you on fire, freak" he said, leaving the room and heading toward the door to get his pokedex from his grandfather.

Charmander started laughing to himself, and Luce patted his head. "Pyromaniac, huh?" she mused, and he only laughed in response. "How about I call you that- or, better yet, just Pyro?" she asked, and Charmander looked at her for a moment, tilting his head before nodding with what she could only assume was an affirmative "Char Char". "Alright!" she said, and stood up. "Ready to go, Pyro?" she asked him, and Pyro nodded. "Return" she said, and he returned to his ball. Walking out to receive her pokedex, the excitement and overwhelmed feeling mixed together as the realization of what was happening now: she was a pokemon trainer. She was finally a pokemon trainer, and she was about to go out into the world. This was everything she had always wanted. Well, perhaps the beginning of it, anyway. Her childhood had been full of big dreams of venturing out into Route 1 with a single pokemon in tow, planning to go from there to all over, the Indigo Plateau, to Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, maybe even Unova or Kalos, to catch and raise as many pokemon as possible and become the champion of the leagues no matter how many times she had to try. She would be a pokemon champion.


End file.
